Aboriginal cultural room has been opened at the Wetaskiwin Hospital and Care Centre

An Aboriginal cultural room has been opened at the Wetaskiwin Hospital and Care Centre in Alberta. Patients will now have a dedicated space for prayer and traditional ceremonies, such as smudging. The room was opened with a traditional Aboriginal pipe ceremony. It will provide a quiet, comfortable space on the hospital’s third floor where patients and families can gather with an Elder.

“It can be a bit of a culture shock to Aboriginal patients when they walk into a hospital, so having this room here also helps us in creating a culturally-safe home away from home,” said Tracy Lee, with Alberta Health Services. “This room is a place that can help provide a balance between the highly-clinical world of a hospital and spiritual well-being for patients.”

The room is the second of its kind in the central zone. The first opened at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre in January 2014. 

Planning for the space in Wetaskiwin began last summer. It will be accessible 24 hours a day through nursing staff, as well as through Aboriginal Health co-ordinator Claudette Yellowbird.

“Having a place like this was a major request from the First Nations clients, families and staff,” said Yellowbird.

Yellowbird is one of three Aboriginal Health co-ordinators in central zone. The co-ordinators are available to all Aboriginal people who access health care, and address a wide range of challenges while working with clients, including language barriers, cultural differences, transportation issues and system navigation.